Fuel for Hiding
by live-in-dreamland1
Summary: What-If: Claire never drove away to make the phone call about tracking the Indominus. Instead she finds herself hiding under machinery with Owen and soaked in gasoline.


It's me again. Hi. I kinda want to appologise for yet ANOTHER Jurassic World fic but I really don't want to haha.

This is a little what-if moment I thought of. Hope you like it.

* * *

 **Fuel for Hiding**

'I can track her from the control room,' Claire says, marching out of the viewing room with purpose. Behind her she vaguely hears Owen say that they should check out the paddock to see if they can find anything. Once she gets to her car, she opens the door and reaches for her phone. Slamming the door shut, she dials the control room.

As she talks with Lowery, she starts to pace, eventually walking around to the large doors to inspect the new work done to them. She glances up at them, trying to see if there is any more indication of an escape.

'She's in the cage,' Lowery eventually tells her and Claire feels her heart stop.

'I'm right here and she's not there.'

'I'm telling you,' Lowery says. 'She's in the cage.'

Claire pulls the phone away from her ear as she turns to face the gate. The blood drains from her face as it starts to slide open. Through the phone she can hear the screams of someone cut out with a crunch and she prays that it wasn't Owen. Her breathing starts to get irregular as the security guard slips through and heads towards a truck. He doesn't notice her and Claire looks back at the paddock. She can see Owen running and the dinosaur hot on his heels. When it becomes apparent that the door isn't going to close in time to lock the Indominus inside, Claire moves.

Without thinking about how this will ruin her clothes, Claire scrambles to crawl under the excavator near her. She keeps her eyes on Owen, watching him push himself to run faster. He makes it out of the before the door closes but he isn't the only one. She barely notices Owen sliding under the excavator with her, her eyes glued to the disaster before her.

As Owen throws himself under the nearest vehicle, his eye widen at finding Claire there. Their eyes lock and he puts a finger to his lips, signalling her to keep quiet as he turns to watch the Indominus walk around the other truck. He can feel Claire shaking beside him but there isn't much he can do about that for the moment. When the Indominus smacks the truck out of the way, Owen brings his hands up to his face and feels Claire curl into his back.

He looks over at the guard once more through the broken window and sees the look of resignation on the guards face right before the jaws of the Indominus snap around him.

Panic takes over Owen as he remembers hearing that this hybrid searches out its prey like a snake, looking for thermal heat signatures. With that in mind, all he can try and do is cover up their scent. Flipping onto his back, Owen pulls his knife out and severs the fuel line, spraying the liquid onto Claire and himself. When the Indominus makes a noise, Owen snaps his head to look in its direction and watches as it comes closer. Claire is still shaking beside him but follows his lead, keeping silent and as still as she can. When the jaws of the Indominus come into view, Owen turns his head in Claire's direction and shuts his eyes. He can feel the breath of the dinosaur and smell the blood as it tries to search for Owen. When he opens his eyes slightly, he can see a tear slip down Claire's face. Without moving his hand, Owen manages to link one of his fingers with hers.

Seemingly unable to find what it wanted to, the Indominus roars and stalks off. It takes another minute before Owen can release a breath and he feels Claire let out a shuddering one. The moment is broken by the sound of Claire's phone ringing. The sound rings out around them as Claire scrambles to turn it off.

'Shut it off,' Owen snaps.

'I'm…I'm trying,' Claire responds, her shaky hands fumbling with the button. The ringing finally stops but the roar of the Indominus rings out around them.

'Oh god,' Claire whispers, feeling the ground faintly shake. Neither had dared to move out from under the car just yet and Owen looks around for somewhere safer they can hide. He spots the stairs leading to the observation deck.

'How fast can you run?' Owen asks, knowing that the Indominus will be heading back towards them, drawn to the noise.

'I don't know,' Claire responds, looking around to see what Owen was looking at. The footsteps of the Indominus are getting closer so it's now or never.

'We're about to find out,' Owen says. He takes a deep breath and slowly crawls out from under the excavator, extending hand back towards Claire. Claire climbs out and stands behind him. Everything is quiet around them and Owen looks back at the trees.

'Start running to the observation deck,' Owen whispers to Claire. 'Now!' he says and together they take off. The Indominus roars behind them and Claire knows that it's looking for them. The stairs are within reaching distance when the Indominus emerges from the trees behind them and gives chase.

'Go, go!' Owen shouts, pushing Claire forward. Thankfully the door is still open and they quickly get inside. Owen tugs Claire into one of the back corners as they hear a growl from outside. Claire tries to get her breathing under control as she presses her head into Owen's back between his shoulder blades. Both know better than to make a sound, knowing that they weren't clear of danger yet.

* * *

The observation deck starts shaking suddenly and Claire can't contain the squeal that leaves her lips. Dust falls down through some of the cracks in the roof.

'She's trying to get in,' Claire says, her hands in a vice like grip on his bicep. Owen takes in their surroundings. They were sitting ducks in here. Another bang against the wall creates a crack.

'We need to move somewhere else,' Owen says, looking around. His eyes finally fall on the small tunnel way leading into the paddock that he had entered through not even twenty minutes ago.

'The tunnel,' Claire breathes out when she sees where Owen is looking. Owen nods. The Indominus is still trying to make its way into the room, the cracks getting bigger. Unfortunately to get to the tunnel, they had to cross the room, running directly in front of the doorway.

'Stay as close to the glass as you can,' Owen instructs as he inches forward. The pressure of Claire's body against his back is gone and for a split second Owen is tempted to step backwards, wanting that pressure again. As soon as the head and the claws retract from the doorway, Owen starts moving. Despite trying to move quickly and quietly, Claire's shoes still clack against the floor, drawing the Indominus back, pushing her claws through the doorway.

The claws take a swipe, nicking the side of Claire's leg but Owen doesn't notice and Claire makes no sound of distress as they make it to the doorway. Once inside the small tunnel, Owen shuts the door behind them slowly. There isn't much room inside the tunnel but neither wants to venture much further in.

Claire leans back against the wall and closes her eyes. The Indominus is still wreaking havoc on the building but they feel safe in here. It's only when Owen glances down at the floor does he spot the blood on Claire's leg.

'You're bleeding,' he whispers to her. Claire opens her eyes and looks down at her leg, her brain now registering the pain.

'I'll be fine,' Claire dismisses with a wave of her hand and Owen frowns.

'You won't be if that thing is attracted to blood,' Owen says as he pulls a rag out from his pockets. He kneels down and gently dabs at the wound, wiping away the small blood trail. Claire feels her breathing hitch in her throat as Owen touches her and she prays that he doesn't notice.

Once the blood is wiped away, Owen looks up at her.

'We need to find something to cover it up.'

Claire grabs the knife from Owen and bends down to cut off a strip of material from the lining of her skirt.

'Will this do?' she asks, looking down at Owen. Unfortunately, Owen can't remove the look of surprise on her face before she sees. 'Mr Grady?'

At hearing his surname, Owen snaps out of his daze and takes the material.

'This will be fine,' he says after clearing his throat. He gently wraps the strip around the wound, making sure to keep it firm. Claire lets out a gasp as Owen ties a knot. The air between them grows awkward with the tension and Claire finds that she needs to break it.

'How much longer do you think we'll have to be down here?'

'Until she realises that we're not worth it,' Owen replies. Claire sucks in a breath of air, flinching at the noises coming from behind the door. When the noises get louder, Owen takes a hold of Claire's hand and pulls her into a small alcove in the wall. Claire knows better than to ask questions now and follows Owen's lead. The alcove is small and there is barely an inch of space between the two. Claire doesn't know when her hands came up to rest on Owen's chest but she finds that she doesn't care right now. They hear the low rumbling growl of the Indominus right outside the door and Claire squeezes her eyes shut.

* * *

Eventually the Indominus lets out a frustrated roar and they can hear the footsteps fading away. Again they don't move straight away and Claire allows herself to melt slightly into Owen's chest.

'We need to get to the control room,' Claire says once it appears they are out of immediate danger.

'Stay here,' Owen instructs as he slowly steps out from the alcove. He moves silently towards the door, which had been partly ripped from its hinges, and glances outside. The observation deck is in shambles but there is no sign of the Indominus. He gestures for Claire to come forward and is happy to see that she has slipped her shoes off, now stepping on her toes.

'I think we're clear.'

'We need to move quickly,' Claire says. 'We need to find out where she is.'

Together they make their way out to Claire's car, which miraculously is still intact. As soon as they are both buckled in, Claire zooms down the road with a white knuckled grip on the steering wheel. They needed to fix this before it got any worse.

The End

* * *

So I hope you liked it. And if you did, I would love it if you could leave a review :)


End file.
